1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope conduit controller for supplying air or water to the front end through an air-supply or water-supply tube or for absorbing the content of an observation object from the front end through a suction tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An endoscope makes it possible to jet air or water (physiological saline or the like) from an air-supply or water-supply nozzle at the front end toward an observation window or the like or absorbing the content or the like of an observation object through a forceps port at the front end. Therefore, an air-supply tube, water-supply tube, and suction tube are set in the endoscope and moreover, a mechanical operation valve or electrical operation switch for controlling flows in these conduits is set in the endoscope.
That is, flows in endoscope conduits have been controlled so far by a mechanical operation valve or a solenoid-valve unit and an operation switch. At the time of using the above described mechanical operation valve, a suction tube is opened or closed by moving a piston which one communication path is formed upward or downward in case of suction. Air is supplied by closing an atmosphere-release path of a piston on which two communication paths such as an air supply path including an atmosphere-release path and a water supply path are formed and water is supplied by pressing the piston downward.
The mechanical operation valve has an advantage that a flow rate can be finely controlled (analogously controlled) by changing pressed distances of a piston by a finger but it has a disadvantage that it is difficult to clean a valve part having a movable piston.
However, the solenoid-valve unit is set separately from the endoscope and an electrical operation switch for operating a solenoid valve in the solenoid-valve unit is set to an operation part. Attraction is performed by operating a relevant solenoid valve by turning on/off a suction switch. Air is supplied by pressing an air-supply/water-supply switch at first stage, for example, thereby operating a relevant solenoid valve and water is supplied by pressing the switch at second stage.
The solenoid-valve unit has an advantage that the valve part can be easily cleaned because the movable piston used for the mechanical operation valve is not used and thereby, the cleanability is improved.
An endoscope conduit controller using the above mechanical operation valve or solenoid-valve unit has advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, selection of an endoscope depends on an applied portion or user""s conditions and endoscope conduit controllers using the valve and unit are simultaneously used. At the time of inversely considering the above described, if it is possible to use the both types of controllers for one system, either of the both types can be selected depending on an applied portion or condition and the utility value is improved.
However, in case of conventional endoscopes, there is no compatibility between an endoscope using a mechanical operation valve and an endoscope using a solenoid-valve unit. That is, an endoscope is configured by an endoscope part serving as a scope, a light source unit or processor unit having a fluid supply part such as a pump, and a solenoid-valve unit. However, it is impossible to use an endoscope having an electrical operation switch for operating a solenoid-valve unit by connecting it to a light source unit or processor unit adopting a mechanical operation valve.
Moreover, there is a request of changing an endoscope to which a mechanical operation valve is applied currently used to an endoscope using a solenoid-valve unit. In this case, it is convenient to use an endoscope currently owned as an endoscope for a solenoid-valve unit without purchasing a new endoscope for a solenoid-valve unit if possible.
The present invention is made to solve the above problems and its object is to provide an endoscope conduit controller capable of properly obtaining advantages of a mechanical valve and a solenoid-valve unit in one system by selectively executing the fluid control by the mechanical valve and the fluid control by the solenoid-valve unit and securing compatibility between component units produced so as to have control modes different from each other.
To attain the above described object, the present invention comprises a mechanical operation member for controlling the flow of a fluid in an endoscope conduit with a mechanical valve configuration, an electrical operation member for controlling the flow of the fluid in the same conduit with an electrical switch, an operation-member catching part in which the conduit is extended and which makes it possible to selectively set or remove the mechanical and electrical operation members, and electrical connection means (circuit) for electrically connecting the electrical switch to the electrical operation member when the body is set to the operation-member catching part.
According to the present invention, when a mechanical operation member is set to an operation-member catching part, a conduit is opened or closed by pressing a mechanical operation member as ever by pressing the mechanical operation member and a flow rate can be also adjusted in accordance with a pressing degree of the operation member. Moreover, when an electrical operation member is set, an internal electrical switch is electrically connected with the body and simultaneously the conduit is also connected so that a fluid can be circulated. Then, by pressing the operation member, a solenoid valve operates and the conduit is opened or closed, and the flow rate is adjusted.
Moreover, another aspect of the present invention comprises a mechanical operation member, a catching part of the mechanical operation member, an electrical operation member constituted so as to be removable from the catching part to secure the flow of a fluid in a conduit and control the flow with an electrical switch, and signal transmission means for inputting an operation signal of the electrical operation member to an electrical fluid-supply part through the outside of an endoscope. The signal transmission means can use an external electrical-signal cable passing through the outside or a signal transmission structure using radio waves or light.
According to the above another aspect of the present invention, by setting an electrical operation member to a catching part from which a mechanical operation member is removed and connecting an external-signal-cable connector serving as electrical connection means to a solenoid-valve unit, a conventional mechanical-valve endoscope can be used as a solenoid-valve endoscope without changing configurations of the mechanical-valve endoscope.